Archive for
January 3rd, 2014

The Denver Nuggets have rescinded the suspension of guard Andre Miller general manager/executive vice president of basketball operations Tim Connelly announced today.

He will return to the team on Monday, Jan. 6th and will be excused from all team activities for personal reasons until then.

He was going to miss two games due to suspension, but with this news, it appears he still won’t be involved with the team for those games, but will now at least receive his usual salary. So, instead of being suspended, it’s like he’s been given a few days off. To clear his head, or something.

There are trade rumors involving Miller, and it’s possible he will be dealt soon. But nothing concrete has been reported.

The Toronto Raptors announced Friday they have assigned guard Dwight Buycks to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League. Buycks will continue to be included on the Raptors’ roster and will be placed on the team’s inactive list.

Buycks has appeared in 12 games for the Raptors this season recording 41 points, 10 assists, 20 rebounds and six steals in 121 minutes. He posted a season-best 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals December 10 versus San Antonio.

This will be Buycks’ second stint in the NBA D-League. He appeared in 28 games (two starts) for Tulsa during the 2011-12 season and averaged 15.1 points while shooting .497 (165-for-332) from the field.

Buycks, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, signed as a free-agent July 16, 2013 after participating on the Raptors’ Las Vegas Summer League squad. He played overseas during the 2012-13 season for BCM Gravelines in France.

Buycks is the seventh Raptor to be assigned to the NBA D-League. Quincy Acy was assigned twice to Bakersfield during the 2012-13 season (December 6-12, 2012 and March 4-26, 2013). Solomon Alabi was designated on four occasions, three times to the Erie BayHawks (November 2010, January 2011 and March 2011) and once to Bakersfield (January 2012). Ed Davis was assigned to Erie for two games in December 2010. Nathan Jawai was designated on two occasions in the 2008-09 season to the Idaho Stampede. P.J. Tucker was assigned twice to the Colorado 14ers during the 2006-07 season and Pape Sow was assigned to the Arkansas Rimrockers in the 2005-06 campaign.

Bakersfield, led by Head Coach Will Voigt, has been appointed as Toronto’s NBA D-League affiliate for the 2013-14 season.

Turkoglu has appeared in 897 regular season games during his NBA career with Sacramento, San Antonio, Orlando, Toronto and Phoenix, averaging 11.9 ppg., 4.2 rpg. and 3.1 apg. in 28.5 minpg., while shooting .381 (1,164-3,057) from three-point range. He has also appeared in 93 career playoff outings, averaging 11.1 ppg., 4.3 rpg. and 3.0 apg. in 31.1 minpg.

Turkoglu played in 497 regular season games with Orlando from 2004-09 and 2010-13, averaging 14.5 ppg., 4.5 rpg. and 3.9 apg. in 32.7 minpg. He also appeared in 49 playoff games with the Magic, averaging 14.4 ppg., 4.5 rpg. and 4.5 apg. in 38.0 minpg. Turkoglu earned the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award in 2007-08 and helped Orlando reach the 2009 NBA Finals.

Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (left knee contusion) will not travel with the team to Brooklyn today and is listed as Out for tomorrow night’s game in Brooklyn vs. the Nets. He will remain in Cleveland for additional treatment at Cleveland Clinic Courts. His status will be updated as appropriate.

Here’s the New York Daily News on Knicks guard Iman Shumpert stepping up in an upset win on the road in San Antonio Thursday night:

If Iman Shumpert’s New Year’s resolution was to get back to be an athletic two-way player then maybe the Knicks can still make something of this season.

At the very least, the 2014 Knicks looked nothing like the Knicks from the final three months of 2013. And the same can be said of Shumpert.

“He saved us,” Carmelo Anthony said. “He saved the day. He was back to the old Shump that we fell in love with.”

Shumpert scored a season-high 27 points including the go-ahead basket with 23.4 seconds left as the Knicks opened January with an inspiring 105-101 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

The third year guard, who has been the subject of trade rumors for months and has been at odds with head coach Mike Woodson, hadn’t played this well since last May’s second round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers. But on Thursday, Shumpert made 10 of 13 shots including 6 of 8 three-pointers as the Knicks overcame a nine-point second quarter deficit.

On Monday, Timberwolves star Kevin Love publicly called out his team’s bench and its five-point performance in that night’s loss to Dallas, calling the reserves’ meager output unacceptable.

Late Wednesday, backup point guard J.J. Barea said he didn’t like Love’s public comments, even though he acknowledges they might have helped inspire 42 points of bench production in a runaway victory over New Orleans.

And on Thursday, Wolves coach Rick Adelman weighed in on the subject.

“I think it’s something they need to talk out,” Adelman said. “I don’t think that anybody can deny that five points isn’t going to do it for us. It’s the way you do it. Like Kevin said, I don’t think it was malicious.

‘‘Sometimes it’s best they talk it out themselves, and that’s what we keep talking about. That’s when the leadership and chemistry come together. I think those guys know what Kevin was talking about. I saw what J.J. said. Things happen during the season.”

Here’s the Boston Globe blog on Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who may finally suit up and play in the near future:

Rajon Rondo said Thursday he is open to a rehabilitation stint with NBADL Maine and is getting “pretty close” after missing nearly a year following tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament.

“I’m better than last week when I talked to you guys,” he said, referring to his Dec. 22 meeting with the media. “I’m still getting my endurance but I’m getting pretty close, feeling good, feeling better. Like I said, I feel better than last week.”

Rondo, who has been traveled with the team and was cleared to practice three weeks ago, has been working out arduously to approach game shape, saying he does not want to return only to suffer another injury setback.

“A like a 12-minute quarter, straight,” he said when asked whether there is one sign that he’s ready to return. “I don’t want to go out there and get fatigued and cause another injury. I want to makes sure I’m ready to go and I’m in shape.”

Here’s the Oregonian reporting on the latest fun show put on by the Portland Trail Blazers, who continue to play like one of the best teams in the league:

The Trail Blazers defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 134-104 Thursday night at the Moda Center, improving to 26-7 on the season and moving into the top spot in the Western Conference.

The Blazers, who are rewriting the franchise three-point record book this season, had another blistering night from behind the arc and threatened to establish an NBA record for long-range shooting in the convincing victory over the Bobcats.

The Blazers made 21 three-pointers — tying a franchise record they set earlier this season — as seven different players made at least one three. The starting lineup was particularly hot, making 14 of 16, but no one was cold as the Blazers shot 64 percent (21-33). Wesley Matthews went 5 for 6, Mo Williams went 3 for 5 and Damian Lillard went 6 for 6, becoming the second player in franchise history to make at least six threes without a miss. Terry Porter also accomplished the feat in 1992.

The 21 threes equaled the franchise record set Dec. 14 during a win at Philadelphia and the Blazers became the first team in NBA history to make 20 or more threes twice in the same season.